10 Weight Loss Myths You Should Know

There are a lot of misconceptions about weight loss. Many online sources make claims that are not backed up with research about methods that help reduce body weight and enhance the health of their readers. Some of these claims are widely accepted because they seem to be logical to the casual observer, but research shows that a lot of myths are making the rounds in the fitness industry. We will discuss ten widely accepted myths.

Myth #1: A thorough exercise regime is the only way to lose weight

Exercising is one of many ways to reduce weight. Exercise affects the level of ghrelin in our body system. Produced in the gut ,ghrelin controls our appetite level. Ghrelin levels go back to normal after about 30 minutes, though they seemed suppressed at first after intense exercise. For many people, exercising produces muscle gain as opposed to fat, so therefore, their body weight remains unchanged. A change in diet appears to produce better results than exercises in a bid to lose weight, but the best approach is to have a change in diet while having regular exercise sessions.

Myth #2: Carbs make you put on weight

When we raise our carbohydrate intake, we raise the amount of insulin needed by our body which always translates to higher insulin levels. Insulin also regulates fat metabolism. The higher our insulin secretion level, the more fat we store. To avoid storing more fat, we should therefore lower our carbohydrate intake. Weight loss becomes noticeably easier when you are not eating too many grain-based foods. This is because grains are the foods that are most likely to raise your blood glucose levels, and promote the release of fat storing insulin. In fact, when you cut back on grains and sugar, and start getting your carbohydrates primarily from high-fiber vegetables, your body will naturally begin accessing its stored fat as fuel.

Myth #3: Some foods Increases your metabolism

From Research, it has been proven that although some foods may have little impact on your metabolism, there are no foods that would increase or decrease your metabolism. Although, they might boost your metabolism a bit, Consuming foods like green tea, caffeine, would not help you lose excess fat. Studies have shown that, “If you’re looking to boost your metabolism, focus on building muscle”

Myth 4: Weight loss drugs are all safe to use

Weight loss drugs doesn’t work for everyone. When used as part of a diet and exercise plan, you can lose 5% – 10% weight over a 1 year period.

For instance, a patient initially weighing 200 pounds would lose about 10 – 20 pounds over a 1 year period using weight loss drugs. This weight loss rate falls within the safe guidelines which postulates 1 pound weight loss per week.
Although, losing 10 pounds a year with weight loss drugs might seem small, it would have a positive impact on blood sugar.

Myth 5: Water intake aids weight loss

Dr Beth Kitchin of the University of Alabama has said that water intake is not a defining solution to weight loss. In her words,” there’s little proof that water intake helps you to lose weight. Drinking water is great but only one study showed that people who drank more water burn extra calories a day than those who didn’t.”

She also added that it’s still a myth that people should drink up to eight glasses of water everyday. Again, In her words “Yes, people do need to get fluids – but it does not have to be water. There’s no evidence that it melts away fat or makes you feel fuller, so if you don’t like water it’s OK.”

She holds the view that water intake can increase the rate at which calories are burned, but doesn’t impact weight loss. She believes the only way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories.

Myth 6: Fasting is good for weight loss

If you skip meals, you’ll consume less calories throughout the day. Skipping meals decreases your blood sugar which would make you hungry, and then you’ll eat more eventually. Even though we need to decrease our intake of calories to lose weight, skipping meals have a negative impact on weight loss.

It is estimated that about 31 million Americans skip breakfast every day, and they tend to eat more meals later in the day. It is advised to eat a balanced breakfast which helps in improving concentration and performance, and also helps in weight loss.

Myth 7: Every calorie is the same

One dietary calorie contains about 4,184 joules of energy and all calories contain the same amount of energy. The human body is a highly complex system with complex energy balance regulating processes.

The foods you consume can have a massive effect on the biological processes that control when, what and how much you eat. Various calorie sources have several impacts on hunger, hormones, and brain sections that control food intake.  Being conscious of calories is unnecessary to lose weight even though calories are important.

Therefore, it isn’t always necessary to restrict your calorie intake since simple food selection changes can lead to the same or better results.

Myth 8: Weight loss is a Linear Process

Losing weight is not a linear process. Our bodies do not reduce weight when calorie is decreased in all circumstances. Cutting out 100 calories per day in a year doesn’t guarantee a 10 pound weight loss.

Meet your metabolism. It is a term that refers to the amount of energy your body needs to finish all the physical and chemical processes necessary for living to continue. The metabolic rates changes constantly due to a lot of factors like your age, body composition, exercise, body temperature and stress. Clinicians have developed complex math equations that come close to guessing how many calories an individual burns in a day.

These equations approximate a person’s metabolic rate that specifically diet changes can produce a 1 – 2 pound weight loss per week. Meanwhile, some patients lose weight in erratic patterns while eating the same foods everyday. They will lose about 4 – 5 pounds in a week and thereafter lose less later.

In some worse cases, a patient might produce a calorie deficit which should result in a loss but doesn’t reflect on the scale. You may lose 1 pound a week over a long period of time but it is not feasible to expect that result at regular intervals.

Myth 9: Eating Breakfast is important to weight loss

A study suggests that not eating dinner or breakfast would help people reduce weight since more calories are burnt in the process. However, not eating meals and fasting is not feasible for everyone. It could backfire and trigger major consequences like overeating later on.

Myth 10: Overweight individuals are unhealthy while skinny people are healthy

A lot of folks hold this assumption that a skinny person is more healthy while overweight people have diabetes. It isn’t true. Any thin individual can have type 2 diabetes.

A dietitian and diabetes educator for Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Misty Duchnik, said that diabetes isn’t related to the look of an individual. She said that Diabetes is as a result of insulin resistance which causes high blood sugar. Although 80% of people with diabetes are overweight, it also happens to skinny individuals.

Currently, 30 million individuals in the United States have diabetes. 12 percent of that number are people with “normal weight”. Skinny people have diabetes because they are skinny fat. They have a specific type of fat known as visceral fat. This type of fat develops around your organs instead of your skin so you can’t see it. People with Visceral fat night not look overweight but would still have as much fat as someone who is overweight.

Duchnik also said that MONW which means metabolically obese, normal weight, is the medical term for skinny fat. Individuals who are MONW would seem healthy but might risk having negative health conditions like diabetes.

Now that you have known the myths of weight loss, you know what you have been doing right or wrong and you can now correct the weight loss mistakes that you have been making. Start a healthy weight loss journey today.